mushroom jiaozi

Flush with delicious victory after our visit to Bodhi, on Tuesday D thought that some sort of mushroom dumpling should be attempted. We were pushed for time, as Tuesday evenings see us swing dancing, so we needed to have finished eating early. This made dumpling making a delightful time-based challenge, though did sort of take the fun out of what is usually a leisurely thing to make.



mushroom jiaozi

This recipe is for jiaozi only, you can serve them any way you like. I like to add half a dozen, along with some rice noodles, bok choi and spring onions, into a lightly spiced ginger broth.

ingredients
one cup champignon mushrooms
handful fresh enoki mushrooms
one half square of firm tofu
dumpling wrappers
three shakes of dark soy sauce
dash of ground pepper
one clove of garlic
some spring onions
half a cup of water chestnuts

method
Dice mushrooms and garlic finely. Fry in a little peanut oil for two or three minutes. Meanwhile, finely chop the water chestnuts, and add to wok, as well as dark soy and ground pepper. Drop in a shake of water, and put lid on wok. Leave to steam for two or three minutes, then add chopped spring onions and chopped enoki.

Mash tofu. Combine well with mushroom mixture, and leave to cool. When the mushroom mixture is mostly cool or room temperature, take one dumpling sheet at a time and put a teaspoon of mixture in the centre. Run a damp finger (have a little bowl of water handy for this) around the edge, like an envelope, then fold one side over to meet the other, and press to seal. You should have a semi-circle of deliciousness. Repeat until mixture is used up, or you get bored.

I like to steam my jiaozi, which I do by laying a sheet of baking paper across a bamboo steamer, and set out as many jiaozi as will fit without smushing together. Fill the wok with two or so cups of water, and when it is boiling put the covered steamer in the wok, and cover with wok lid. Leave to steam for about twelve minutes.

Alternatively, you can boil them, until the jiaozi are floating.